AutoTrader.com, the smarter place to buy and sell a car, announces its sponsorship of Major League Baseball writer Joe Connor's summer cross-country road tour of 260 baseball parks in 215 days. Connor will be traveling in a vegetable-oil fueled 1984 Mercedes to promote renewable fuels and has dubbed the tour "Fuel of Dreams."

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Connor and his lime green-colored Mercedes are to cover over 40,000 miles and 48 states throughout the baseball season. The vehicle operates on a two tank fuel system -- one diesel fuel used for engine start-up, the other vegetable oil used for standard driving operation.

"When you think of summer in the United States, it's difficult to get much closer to the heart of Americana than baseball and road trips," said Clark Wood, vice president of marketing, AutoTrader.com. "As gas prices continue to rise and fuel efficiency and conservation remain a top-of-mind issue, Joe's ambitious journey to promote renewable fuels provides a summer-long rooting interest, not unlike your favorite baseball team!"

A San Diego-based freelance baseball writer, Connor, 34, has written for the likes of ESPN.com, FOXSports.com and MLB.com. He views the tour as means by which to encourage the need to make alternative fuels an innovative, affordable and healthy lifestyle option.

Connor's Mercedes uses the existing diesel tank and filter system on engine start-up. During that time the recently installed vegetable oil-fueled system heats the vegetable oil to reduce the viscosity so the oil may be used for fuel during normal driving conditions. The 13-gallon vegetable oil tank is capable of generating between 20-23 miles per gallon, but performance varies based on the quality of the vegetable oil and driving conditions.

"Spending a summer driving cross-country, from stadium-to-stadium, watching baseball games has been a life-long dream of mine," said Connor. "To fulfill that dream while promoting an awareness of the need for America to reduce its dependency on foreign oil makes this trip all the more rewarding."

About AutoTrader.com

AutoTrader.com, created in 1997 and headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., is the Internet's leading auto classifieds marketplace and consumer information website. AutoTrader.com aggregates in a single location more than 3 million vehicle listings from 40,000 dealers and 250,000 private owners, which provide the largest selection of vehicles attracting more than 11 million qualified buyers each month. Through innovative merchandising products such as multiple photos and comprehensive search functionality, AutoTrader.com unites buyer and seller online - dramatically improving the way people research, locate and advertise vehicles.

AutoTrader.com is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. Other investors include Landmark Communications, ADP, Inc., and the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

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SOURCE: AutoTrader.com

CONTACT: Jason Jager of AutoTrader.com, +1-404-568-5947, or
jason.jager@autotrader.com

Web site: http://www.autotrader.com/